After some 8 weeks of work and countless hours of meetings, research, analysis and discussions…the RNC Transition Team presented their findings and 100-Day Plans to Chairman Steele.  The last reports were presented this last Thursday.

RNC Chairman Michael Steele asked 10 RNC members from around the country and recruited a number of “politicos” and “consultants” to help analyze exactly what the RNC did…what it should do…and propose a 100-Day Plan to implement a new, fresh approach for the RNC.

I was most impressed with Michael’s initial meeting with the team where he challenged us to leave no stone unturned and not to be afraid to “think outside the box”.  He wanted us to challenge the status quo and just because things were done one way, it didn’t mean it had to be done that way going forward.

He created 7 sub-committees that analyzed various aspects of what the RNC does…those included Finance, Administration, Political, Education, Technology, Communications, Strategy and Legal.

Each group interviewed staff, reached out the other RNC members for their input and insight, put together current and suggested organizational charts, budgets and objectives.  Each group proposed a 100-Day Plan with timelines and goals to move the process forward.

Much of the analysis involved reaching out to the grassroots for comments and help.  I think it’s impressive that over 8,000+ activists from around the country provided insights, suggestions, comments and ideas…even plans and proposals.  Many volunteers just jumped in and did all they could to help Steele get all the input he should have as he prepares to implement his plans and strategy.

As of this week, Chairman Steele was presented with everyone’s final recommendations, suggestions and comments.  Needless to say, Michael and Jan have some “heavy reading” to go over this weekendJ

Overall I think the process was very productive and instructive.  Many great ideas and suggested were put forth.  The Chairman’s challenge is to go through this huge volume of information and recommendations and put forth his vision and plan on how to move our party forward and organize our troops nationwide.

I have to say, I feel confident Michael Steele has taken the time, made the effort and reached out to all that were willing to help put together a plan to lead us to victory.  The challenges are great, the obstacles formidable and the opportunities boundless.

As Chairman Steele implements his plan, builds him team and reaches out to the grassroots for help, I hope all of us join together to help move our party forward.

It was an honor to be part of this process and I look forward to working with and supporting Chairman Steele as we rebuild our great party and movement. 

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who 
has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, 
since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He 
will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: 
Knowing when to come in out of the rain; Why the early bird gets the 
worm; Life isn’t always fair; and maybe it was my fault. 

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend 
more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, 
are in charge). 

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but 
overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy 
charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended 
from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for 
reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. 

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the 
job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly 
children. 

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental 
consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could 
not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an 
abortion. 

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; 
and criminals received better treatment than their victims. 

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a 
burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault. 

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to 
realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in 
her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. 

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by 
his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason. 

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers:

I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I’m A Victim 

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

For more information goto the Heritage Foundation blog.

A gift for my children and yet to be born grandchildren…that’s if we’re lucky?!?

See more info here.

No passion…no candor…clearly little less than canned answers.  He effectively stayed on message.

The press gives the “One” a halo?!?

The outrage to me was how he can argue that he is going to be more fiscally responsible by doubling the budget in 5 years and tripling the budget in 10 years…while still looking the American people in the eye and saying he is still cutting the deficit?!?  And some believe that?

Oh yeh, he inherited all the problems – so digging us deeper into debt isn’t his fault!  It’s all Bush’s fault.

Is America waking up?

In an op-ed in today’s Investors Business Daily, they raise the question if the Obama Administration/United States willing to negotiate away missile defense sites in Eastern Europe for some “vague” promise from Russia?

Alliances: The U.S. has expressed a willingness to barter away missile
defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic. Now the Polish foreign
minister says he hopes his country doesn’t regret trusting the United
States.

The Brussels Forum is a privately organized high-level meeting of the most influential North American and European political, corporate and
intellectual leaders to address pressing challenges currently facing both sides of the Atlantic.

One of the pressing issues discussed at this year’s conference was whether
the U.S. is serious about bartering away plans for missile defense sites in
Poland and the Czech Republic in exchange for vague Russian promises of
using its influence on Iran regarding its move toward developing nuclear
warheads to put on its long-range missiles.

Our allies are concerned, and given our history, for good reason.  This could have negative long term implications.

The Poles and the Czechs, who have known true freedom for only a short time after enduring both Nazi and Communist oppression, have experienced the consequences of diplomatic betrayal – first at Munich and later at Yalta.

The “politics of now” is a dangerous way to conduct foreign policy…

Unilaterally scrapping European missile defense could shatter the NATO
alliance as we retreat to a Fortress America behind our own ground-based
interceptors and Aegis-equipped missile defense destroyers and cruisers.

The basis of NATO’s purpose and existence – collective security – would be shredded as we showed a willingness to sacrifice allies for diplomatic
convenience. Either we all hang together or we all hang separately.

Here is a good article worth reading and considering as we contemplate the safety of the United States long term.

…gone, but NOT forgotten:)

MIRS Capitol Capsule, Monday, March 23, 2009

It’s not often that I read or quote Mother Jones, but here is a good article on what the Obama campaign did and where we have to go in the future.

Everything I thought we knew about the campaign’s use of technology and the Internet faded as I spent more time with the campaign. The game-changer in the Obama campaign, as I found in talking to key staff—and through volunteering in southern Ohio myself—was that technology was not an add-on: It represented a carefully considered element of almost every critical campaign function. Most remarkably, technology played a critical role in the one area least understood by the “digerati” and most online campaigners: moving online supporters toward real-world action.

The New Media team’s mantra and focus was “Message, Money, and Mobilization”—three critical campaign functions that their work served and supported.

The next campaign managers must decide: Follow the online-offline hybrid model used by Obama in 2008, or use technology in new ways to scale grassroots and field organizing beyond what has yet been possible.

I would encourage all campaign managers/consultants as well as “new media” and “tech” folks to read this article.